You’ve probably heard that celery has a negative calorie count. How could that be? The energy your body burns in breaking down the fibrous strands in the celery is more energy than the vegetable actually provides. We’re talking single digits here, so it’s not like a celery diet is going to have you shedding 30 lbs off in a weekend.

And now, Celcius drinks are boasting “Burn up to 100 calories and more in each can!”

Really?

What you need to know:

From the company website:

All Celsius products are powered by MetaPlus®, a proprietary blend of scientifically validated ingredients. With MetaPlus inside Celsius, it may help you get fit and stay fit. †*

Whenever we see ****s and ††††’s – henceforth, disclaimers – we know there’s something fishy going on. We’ll get to these in a moment.

The drink’s ingredient list is short:

Premium Brewed Green Tea Using Filtered Water , Citric Acid , Natural Flavors , Fruit Juice , Sucralose

The calorie count is close to zero because it’s sweetened with sucralose. There’s barely any fruit juice here, as it appears after 2 ingredients that are used very sparingly – citric acid and natural flavors. In fact, it seems kind of fishy that Celcius is even listing fruit juice as an ingredient, as the tiny amount contributes nothing nutritionally. Conspiracy fans may say it’s just a marketing trick to make the drink seem more natural.

The product is actually sold as a “beverage supplement”, not as a soft drink (see lower left hand corner of the package). That’s why you’ll have better chances of finding it at a CVS or Walgreen’s than at a Shoprite or Safeway.

So how does this “supplement” burn 100 calories per serving?

Here’s a hint from disclaimer #1:

In a study of 60 healthy college-aged men and women, 100 calories represents the average calories burned over three hours for those participants consuming a single serving of Celsius®. Celsius® alone does not produce weight loss in the absence of a healthy diet and moderate exercise. Loss of fat mass, gain of muscle mass and improved endurance were benefits found for participants consuming a single serving of Celsius everyday and 15 minutes prior to exercise in a study using a 10-week moderate exercise program.

Aha! – it won’t burn the calories for you. You need to work your ass off for it. But if you do work out, a very limited test (60 college kids), shows that you’ll burn extra calories due to some of the chemicals in the drink.

What chemicals? mostly caffeine. That’s why drinking coffee before your morning workout is a good idea. Each can of Celcius has 200 milligrams, about 2-3 times the amount in a cup of coffee. The stimulants rev up your metabolism, increasing the heat your body generates. Heat is a form of energy, just as calories are, hence the negative calorie count…

A word about supplements, which brings us to disclaimer #2:

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This is not a food / beverage, it’s a supplement, somewhere between food and drug, and thus exempt from rigorous testing and labeling requirements. Supplement companies are thus very liberal in their interpretation of clinical research and trials, and have a flair for bombastic claims.

So should you invest in this drink? Coffee could probably do just a good a job for you. And if you’re not planning to work out immediately after drinking this, save your money and have a glass of water instead.

In general, beware of promises that will help you lose weight, stay young, or become insanely rich.

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